Medieval sheet music with 'neumes' now on display for the public to see in London

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 2:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

Centuries before recorded music, expanse euphony and streaming services, there were "little squiggles" connected pieces of parchment to usher a vocalist oregon choir.

Known arsenic medieval neumes, the squiggles didn't indicate the tune oregon the song's key, but alternatively outlined pacing, and whether to execute the notes fast, slow, creaseless oregon choppy. 

Now, researchers successful London, Ont. and the nationalist person entree to this aboriginal signifier of written euphony done Western University's archives library. It precocious acquired two pieces of parchment containing Germanic neumes likely drawn successful the 1200s. 

"The notation present benignant of looks similar chickenhearted scratch," Western euphony prof Kate Helsen explains. "Essentially what you're doing is reminding a vocalist who already knows what they are singing successful a wide oregon religion however to sing what they're singing."

The 2 pieces successful Western's postulation had been recycled into a publication binding oregon screen astatine immoderate constituent successful time, a communal signifier known arsenic manuscript "waste". When Western's uncommon publication librarian Deborah Meert-Williston came crossed them successful an online merchantability conscionable extracurricular Toronto, she connected with Helsen.

"I conscionable said, 'Is this what I deliberation it is?'" said Meert-Williston, adding that erstwhile Helsen confirmed, the 2 worked with colleagues to find backing to acquisition them for the university's collection. 

The medieval neumes person medium-sized substance of chants with tiny markings supra each word, lone meant to amusement however the word oregon syllable should beryllium performed. 

"It's a large enigma [how the euphony sounds] because, of course, we don't person the idiosyncratic pitches erstwhile we look astatine this benignant of notation," Helsen said. 

However, she tin sometimes fig retired the melody by matching the substance successful the medieval neumes to chants that look aboriginal successful written music. Assuming they are the aforesaid chants, Helsen said she's created a signaling wherever the due melody is sung with the medieval show cues.

LISTEN: How medieval neumes tin assistance decipher what 9th period chants sounded like

From neumes to expanse music

There was a earthy improvement betwixt medieval neumes and expanse euphony arsenic it is known today, Helsen said.

But earlier either, radical relied connected their representation to callback chants, she said, but determination remained a tendency to sphere and stock the music. 

"What happens erstwhile you're relying much and much connected representation aids, you don't person everything successful your caput truthful present you're going to request much and much information," Helsen said.

In 1025, euphony theorist Guido of Arezzo enactment a horizontal enactment crossed the leafage representing a circumstantial pitch, Helsen said, past distributed the neumes supra oregon beneath it. That yet evolved into today's expanse music, which has a unit with 5 lines and notes to amusement antithetic pitches and rhythms.

Helsen said having the neumes successful the university's possession makes her euphony past classes much interactive. 

"You speech to students astir this benignant of notation, however it develops into the philharmonic unit and however we get our euphony today, and it tin dependable truly theoretical and acold away," she said. "All of those questions spell distant erstwhile you get to manus thing similar this to a student…They ne'er hide that."

"I deliberation it's important for students to recognize that we didn't marque that worldly up," said Helsen. "It's not similar modern times are the lone times that euphony has ever been important, meaningful oregon changing the lives of the radical who interact with it. This is evidence."

Meert-Williston said that aforesaid feeling tin widen to the public, who are invited to sojourn the university's Archives and Research Collections Centre and petition to presumption the neumes, on with different medieval-era documents. 

"To truly acquisition them and to clasp the archetypal successful your hands, to consciousness the texture of the parchment, to spot the penning that idiosyncratic hand-wrote hundreds of years ago, it truly does person an impact," she said.